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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I gladly support the amendment. We all need to have it constantly in mind that children in the situations that we are describing and considering desperately seek some kind of secure, stable, ongoing relationships—some kind of continuity. To be impersonally buffeted around, however good the intentions of the people who in effect do the buffeting, can aggravate the situation. Therefore it is terribly important that, wherever possible, the person involved should be known to the child and be someone in whom the child has confidence. The question we have to ask ourselves about those in prison is not only whether we are committed to the child, but whether we are committed to the whole process of rehabilitation; that word has come up again. If we are committed to rehabilitation, it is important to have some continuity in relationships outside the institution, not simply to make the child institutionally dependent. Goodness gracious, there is a good deal to be anxious about there; I shall come to that on my amendment later. The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, knows more in his little finger about those issues than most of us put together. Stable relationships—the continuity of relationships—are absolutely crucial to making a success of the operation. I therefore think that the amendment and the spirit in which it has been moved are designed to strengthen a Bill, which I think we all believe is good and which we welcome, and to help a Minister who is greatly respected on all sides of the House because of his commitment to the cause.